![]() ![]() Konrad Adenauer, chancellor of West Germany, 1949–1963 When everybody else thinks it’s the end, we have to begin. First, what accounted for this record of inclusive growth, sustained for more than two decades? And second, while acknowledging that the world has changed enormously since 1945, are there ideas and actions taken then that can inspire us now? The lessons of the past: Factors behind postwar recovery In this article, we address two questions. Poverty, government debt, and inequality fell, while living standards improved and prosperity spread broadly. Technologies developed for war were adapted for peace-time use. So the following discussion draws chiefly on the experience of Japan, the United States, and Western Europe, which were conspicuous in their success. Eastern Europe went behind the iron curtain China suffered civil war, starvation, and the Cultural Revolution much of Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East was unstable and wracked by conflict (although there were bright spots in these regions, too). Indeed, many countries would not want to revisit the decades after the war. Not everywhere, of course, or to the same degree. With that in mind, we looked specifically at the post–World War II era-a time when much of the world rose, quite literally, from the ashes. Considering the lessons of history can help business leaders and policy makers figure out how to manage the challenging years ahead. ![]()
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